Vehicle gutter spout cover

ABSTRACT

A vehicle gutter spout cover comprising: a receptacle with a generally smooth outside surface; an orifice located on the receptacle and configured to allow the receptacle to slide over and enclose at least a portion of a gutter spout; and an adjustable length connecting means attached to the receptacle. A vehicle gutter spout cover system comprising: a vehicle; at least one gutter located on the vehicle; at least one gutter spout in fluid communication with the gutter; a receptacle with a generally smooth outside surface; an orifice located on the receptacle and configured to allow the receptacle to slide over and enclose at least a portion of the gutter spout; an adjustable length connecting means attached to the receptacle; and a vehicle cover configured to cover a vehicle and the gutter spout, with the receptacle generally enclosing at least a portion of the gutter spout.

CROSS-REFERENCES

This patent application is a continuation of patent application Ser. No.15/341,255, by Michael P. Hagen, entitled “VEHICLE GUTTER SPOUT COVER”,filed on Nov. 2, 2016, the entire contents of which are fullyincorporated by reference herein. Patent application Ser. No. 15/341,255is a continuation of patent application Ser. No. 15/052,530, by MichaelP. Hagen, entitled “VEHICLE GUTTER SPOUT COVER”, filed on Feb. 24, 2016,the entire contents of which are fully incorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates generally to gutter spout covers and moreparticularly to a gutter spout cover for a vehicle with gutters andspouts.

BACKGROUND

Recreational vehicles (RVs) and trailers are used by many people in theUS and the world. In this document the term “RV” will include bothrecreational vehicles and trailers. Users often protect their RVs withcovers. However, many RVs have gutters located on the vehicle. Many RVswith gutters use gutter spouts to direct the water or other liquids awayfrom the RV. A problem arises in that these gutter spouts haverelatively pointy and/or sharp ends and/or surfaces, and these ends orsurfaces can cause damage to the covers used to protect the RV when theRV is parked or stored. Known solutions to prevent such tearing havemany disadvantages. The known solutions are difficult to keep on thegutter spouts, or do not provide enough protection to the cover.

Therefore there is a need for a vehicle gutter spout cover thatovercomes the above described and other disadvantages.

SUMMARY

The disclosed invention relates to a vehicle gutter spout covercomprising: a receptacle with a generally smooth outside surface; anorifice located on the receptacle and configured to allow the receptacleto slide over and enclose at least a portion of a gutter spout; and anadjustable length connecting means attached to the receptacle.

The invention also relates to a vehicle gutter spout cover systemcomprising: a vehicle; at least one gutter located on the vehicle; atleast one gutter spout in fluid communication with the gutter; areceptacle with a generally smooth outside surface; an orifice locatedon the receptacle and configured to allow the receptacle to slide overand enclose at least a portion of the gutter spout; an adjustable lengthconnecting means attached to the receptacle; and a vehicle coverconfigured to cover a vehicle and the gutter spout, with the receptaclegenerally enclosing at least a portion of the gutter spout.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure will be better understood by those skilled in thepertinent art by referencing the accompanying drawings, where likeelements are numbered alike in the several figures, in which:

FIG. 1 is a top view of the disclosed vehicle gutter spout cover;

FIG. 2 is a top view of the vehicle gutter spout cover from FIG. 1showing the two connecting means not connected;

FIG. 3 is a close up view of the two connecting means of the disclosedvehicle gutter spout cover, showing the buckles;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the disclosed vehicle gutter spout coveron an RV;

FIG. 5 is a close up view of one corner of an RV with the disclosedvehicle gutter spout cover;

FIG. 6 is a close up view of another corner of an RV with the disclosedvehicle gutter spout cover;

FIG. 7 is a close up view of the disclosed vehicle gutter spout cover;and

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the disclosed vehicle gutter spoutcover installed on a gutter spout.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a top view of one embodiment of the vehicle gutter spoutcover 10. The vehicle gutter spout cover 10 comprises at least onereceptacle 14. In addition there is a connecting means 18 attached tothe receptacle 14 via an attachment means 20. The connecting means 18may be any suitable connector, such as, but not limited to straps,ropes, cables, belts, etc. The connecting means 18 can have its lengthadjusted by using any suitable adjustment means, including but notlimited to tri-glide buckles, strap ratchets, cam buckles, ladderlockbuckles, side release buckles with a length adjustment means, etc. Theattachment means 20 may be any suitable attachment means, including butnot limited to rivets, nuts and bolts, adhesives, or castings intoplastic, etc. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle gutterspout cover 10 comprises two receptacles 14 attached to both ends of theconnecting means 18. The receptacles 14 have a generally smooth outersurface 22. The smooth outer surface 22 is configured to generallyprevent the surface 22 from damaging an RV cover that may be placed overthe RV. In one embodiment, the receptacle may be spherical, but othershapes may be used so long as the outer surface 22 of the shape does nottend to damage an RV cover, such shapes may include, but are not limitedto: semi-spherical shape, ellipsoid shape, cube shape with roundedcorners, pyramid shape with rounded corners, etc. In one embodiment, thereceptacles 14 may be tennis balls with an orifice cut into them. Eachreceptacle 14 also has an orifice 26.

The orifice 26 is configured to be large enough to slide over a gutterspout, and configured so that the receptacle 14 generally encloses atleast a portion of the gutter spout.

FIG. 2 shows a top view of the vehicle gutter spout cover 10. In thisembodiment, there are two receptacles 14. Note that both orifices 26 foreach receptacle 14 are visible in this view. Also visible in this vieware the buckles 30 on each connecting means 18.

FIG. 3 shows a close up of the buckles 30. The buckles 30 may be able toconnect to each other, that is they may be side release buckles, in oneembodiment. The buckles 30 allow both connecting means 18 to attach toeach other, and the buckles 30 also allow for the connecting means 18 tobe able to have its length adjusted. Thus one of the buckles may haveprongs 34, and the other buckle may be the female receptacle 38. Bothbuckles 34, 38 will have length adjustment means 42.

FIG. 4 shows the vehicle gutter spout cover 10 attached to the gutterspouts on an RV 46. In this embodiment, there are two receptacles 14,one on each end of the connecting means 18. Only one receptacle 14 isvisible in this view. The receptacle has been slid over a gutter spout50. The gutter spout 50 is in operable communication with an RV gutter(not visible in this view). The connecting means 18 has been threadedthrough an RV ladder 54 on the roof 58 of the RV 46. The otherreceptacle is also slid over another gutter spout on the RV 46. At thisjuncture, the connecting means 18 may have its length adjusted via thebuckles 30, so that the connecting means are tightened such that thevehicle gutter spout cover 10 is securely attached to the gutter spouts50.

FIG. 5 shows the other end of the connecting means 18 from FIG. 4, andthe other receptacle 14 already slid over and onto another gutter spout50. One can see that since the connecting means length has beenshortened such that the connecting means 18 is now taut, the vehiclegutter spout cover 10 is securely fastened.

FIG. 6 is a close up view of the receptacle 14 and gutter spout 50 fromFIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is another view of the vehicle gutter spout cover 10.

FIG. 8 shows a cross-sectional view of an RV 46 with a gutter 52 and agutter spout 50 attached to the gutter. The receptacle 14 is shown slidover the gutter spout 50 via the orifice 26, with the connecting means18 being generally taut and held in place by tension with the otherreceptacle 14 also installed on another gutter spout 50, which may belocated on an opposite side of the RV 46. In other embodiments, insteadof two receptacles 14 attached to a connecting means 18, there may beonly one receptacle 14 attached to a connecting means, with a hookattached to the second end of the connecting means 18, thereby allowingone to simply attach the receptacle 14 to a gutter spout 50, and thenattaching the other end of the connecting means to some structure on theRV via the hook.

In one embodiment, a method of manufacture would be a molded plastic end(receptacle) cast around a nylon strap (connecting means) with a quickconnect, or at a minimum, cinching buckle to join the straps. One strapmay be considerably longer (about 12 ft in one embodiment) and be placedover the gutter spout on one side, feeding the strap out as you workover to the opposite side, at which time you slide the cover over thesecond gutter and connect the two straps, removing any slack byadjusting the length of the straps and securing both ends in place.

The disclosed invention has many advantages. The vehicle gutter spoutcover provides a rounded, smooth shape thereby preventing the pointedand abrasive nature of the end of the gutter spout from damaging RVcovers. The vehicle gutter spout cover is easy to install and removefrom gutter spouts, and the connecting means are easily adjustable inlength. The receptacles may be light enough and soft enough that whenone receptacle is slid over one gutter spout, the other receptacle(attached via the connecting means) can be thrown over to the other sideof the RV, without fear of damaging the RV.

It should be noted that the terms “first”, “second”, and “third”, andthe like may be used herein to modify elements performing similar and/oranalogous functions. These modifiers do not imply a spatial, sequential,or hierarchical order to the modified elements unless specificallystated.

While the disclosure has been described with reference to severalembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted forelements thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Inaddition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situationor material to the teachings of the disclosure without departing fromthe essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that thedisclosure not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as thebest mode contemplated for carrying out this disclosure, but that thedisclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle gutter spout cover comprising: a firstreceptacle with a generally smooth outside surface; a first orificelocated on the first receptacle and configured to allow the firstreceptacle to slide over and enclose at least a portion of a gutterspout; an adjustable length connecting means permanently attached to thefirst receptacle, the adjustable length connecting means comprising: afirst connector; a first connector length adjustment means attached tothe first connector; a second connector attached to the first connectorlength adjustment means, and wherein the adjustable length connectingmeans is infinitely adjustable in length between a maximum length andminimum length; a second receptacle with a generally smooth outsidesurface; a second orifice located on the second receptacle andconfigured to allow the second receptacle to slide over and enclose atleast a portion of a gutter spout, and the adjustable length connectingmeans permanently attached to the second receptacle, and wherein theadjustable length connecting means is configured to be tightened tosecurely attach the first receptacle and second receptacle to the gutterspouts.
 2. The vehicle gutter spout cover of claim 1, wherein the firstconnector and second connector are selected from the group comprisingropes, cables, and belts.
 3. The vehicle gutter spout cover of claim 1,wherein the adjustable length connecting means is selected from thegroup comprising: strap ratchets, cam buckles, ladderlock buckles, andside release buckles with a length adjustment means.
 4. The vehiclegutter spout cover of claim 1, wherein the first receptacle and secondreceptacle has a shape selected from the group consisting of a sphericalshape, a semi-spherical shape, an ellipsoid shape, a cube shape withrounded corners, and a pyramid shape with rounded edges.
 5. The vehiclegutter spout cover of claim 1, wherein the adjustable length connectingmeans is permanently attached to the first receptacle and secondreceptacle, respectively, by an attachment means selected from the groupconsisting of rivets, nuts and bolts, adhesives, and castings intoplastic.
 6. A vehicle gutter spout cover system comprising: a vehicle;at least one gutter located on the vehicle; at least one gutter spout influid communication with the gutter; a first receptacle with a generallysmooth outside surface; a first orifice located on the first receptacleand configured to allow the first receptacle to slide over and encloseat least a portion of the gutter spout; an adjustable length connectingmeans permanently attached to the first receptacle, the adjustablelength connecting means comprising: a first connector; a first connectorlength adjustment means attached to the first connector; a secondconnector attached to the first connector length adjustment means, andwherein the adjustable length connecting means is infinitely adjustablein length between a maximum length and minimum length; a secondreceptacle with a generally smooth outside surface; a second orificelocated on the second receptacle and configured to allow the secondreceptacle to slide over and enclose at least a portion of a secondgutter spout on the vehicle; and wherein the second receptacle ispermanently attached to the adjustable length connecting means; and avehicle cover configured to cover a vehicle and the gutter spouts, withthe first receptacle generally enclosing at least a portion of thegutter spout and with the second receptacle generally enclosing at leasta portion of the second gutter spout; and wherein the adjustable lengthconnecting means is configured to be tightened to securely attach thefirst receptacle and second receptacle to the gutter spouts.
 7. Thevehicle gutter spout cover of claim 6, wherein the first connector andsecond connector are selected from the group comprising ropes, cables,and belts.
 8. The vehicle gutter spout cover of claim 6, wherein theadjustable length connecting means is selected from the groupcomprising: strap ratchets, cam buckles, ladderlock buckles, and siderelease buckles with a length adjustment means.